Automobile door locking structure



June 24, 1941. E. D. DALL AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCKING smnucwuna Filed Feb. 23, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 bwniea a. 40444 mm 2,, W41. E. D. DALL 2,246,784

AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCKING STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 23, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eig- 61 sme.

FIFE-Z"? 2:7? fan 4.20 Z). 344;.

' the individual locking of doors.

closing position.

Patented June 24; 1 1

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE hurpmonmr: fi c xmc s'rauo'rune sum 1). pm, Detroit, men, assignor to Walter J r. Wright, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application February 2:, 1940, Serial no. 320,251

This invention relates to locking gtl'llotlll'e adapted particularly for doors of automobiles tor An important object of the invention is to eifectlocking of a door by latching'elements, preferably ofthe rocking or rotary type cooperable with keeper structure on, the .door post or fi'rame.

(Gl n- 153) J 24 iei themes 25 oh whlchfthe inside handle I! is mounted, a lever arm 21 extending downwardly from the shaft to whose lower end is pivoted a strap 28 which at its outer end has the lever 05.

and with the latching elements releasable by operation of inside handle structure on the door. i I

'Still another important object .is,to provide dogging means, preferablyoperable by key means from the outside of the door, i'orpreventingunlatching of the door either by the outside handle or the inside handle.

,The above enumerated and other and the cooperating keeper structure on a door post or frame;

. Figure 2 is a section on the plane II-II of Figure 1, Figures land 2 showing the locking structure in looking position; I v

I /.Figure 3 ,is'a-view similar to Figure 2;showing the latching elements in cooked or unlatching position; e

and outside handle features of I theinvention are incorporated in the structure shown on the drawings, in which drawings: a 1 Figure 1 is a front elevation of the looking structure and control means theretor on a door,

,wit the arrangement thus far described, when the outside. handle II is swung down, the

rollback ll will shift the link 18 downwardly and the engagement oi. the link pin I! with the s'etti-ngl'ever I! will cause clockwise rotation of this lever, the slot 20 limiting this swing of the lever.

when the lever II is thus operated by the outside handle, the pin, on the lever travelsln the slot of the strap 28. A A

When the inside handle 26- is swung downwardly and the strap 28' is shifted inwardly, the

strap pulls onthe pin 30 and the lever li'will be rotated in clockwise direction.

Themain latch bolt 3| is or V shape she has the latching leg 32 and the setting leg as. The

latch bolt is'within a rectangular cup-shaped Q housing ll secured to the wall I I and the bolt is door post and the latch mechanism in latching cooperation with the keeper structure; a Figure 5 is a view similar to Figures but showing the latching n elements entering the keeper structure when the door is moved toward rockable on a pin 35 extending through the housing and secured at its .endsto the wall H and the outer wall of the housing respectively,

The setting leg 33 of the bolt has the arcuate abutment extension 36, which projects through an arcuate slot 31 in thetwall, H. The wall ll has a post 38. thereon on which is anchored a spring-39 which engages against the lower end I of the abutment 36. and tends to rockcthe latch 1 bolt to' its cocked or unlatching position shown -onl iguresliandt'i. I

The lock structure shown comprises a wall Ill, and a flange wall II on which the various-operating parts are mounted. Eitending through the wall In near the top thereof is the spindle II for the outside door handle ll, this spindle carrying a rollback ll. Near the lower end of the wall III a settinglever 'II' is iulcrumed on a post IS. The rollback Ills within "a housing" into which a link It extends, this link Sat its lowerend having'a pin I! extending through an arcuate 'slot 20 in the setting lever l5. A spring 2! anchored on the post ill'enmes the pin and tendsto hold the 'link' II in its 11f per position. .At its outer side the lever II has an abutment extensional, anda spring ,fl'anchored on the post l8 engagesagalnst the top of this'abutment and tends to .s'wingtheksettina lever in counter clockwise direction (figure 1); Mounted on the door a sup orting structure'- The latch bolt is oooperable with a. keeper fitting 40 secured to the door post or frame F.

The keeper structure has the lower horizontal straight wall or=flange ,g the upper wall ll being deflected downwardly to provide a 1 latch abutment". when the door is open. the latch bolt is cooked asshown on Figure 5 and when the door is swung toward itsclosed position the housing 34 with the bolt therein passes; along the keepenand es the settling leg of the bolt.

encounters the latching abutment-43. the latch v :bolt will be rocked for en'gagernentof its latch ing leg 32 behind the abutment for latching the M ans-ere provided for ol ing the latch belt 1 either in its cocked or latching position. The, means shown comprises front and .rear dogging plates 44 andliwwhi'ch have longitudinally'ex-f "blindingslots .16 for receiving a-guidepin IT ,extendingirom'thewall l l the plates being shiftable vertically; The dogging plates 44 and l! wardly of the surface of the dogging plates 4 and. respectively andtend to shift these plates .downwardly.

when the lever I5 is rotated by operation of either the inside or the outside handle for the door, the abutment 22 on the lever will raise the dogging plates to their upper position in which the lower edges of the plates are above and clear of the abutment 35 on the latch bolt. and as the door is then swung open, the spring 39 will swing the latch bolt into its cocked position, and then when the door handle is released, the springs 49 and 50 will shift the dogg Plates downwardly with their lower edges against the top of the latch bolt abutment and the latch bolt will thus be held in its cocked or unlatching position. 1

When the door is swung from open to closed position, the latch bolt is swung to its latching position. The inner edges of the dogging plates 44 and 45 present wedging surfaces 5| and 52 respectively, the surface 52 being a distance out- Now, upon closing movement of the door, as the inner end of the abutment 36 of the latch bolt clears the'lower end of the wedge surface 5!, the dogging plate 44 will be shifted downwardly by its spring 49 for engagement of the wedging surface II with the end of the abutmentand the latch bolt is forced around further in latching direction, and as soon as the abutment end clears the lower end of the wedge surface 52, the dogging plate 45 will be shifted down by its spring 50 for wedging engagement of the surface 52 with the abutment and the latch bolt is urged in latching directionso that the door will be fully closed and will be held against rattling. Figures 1 and 2 show the dogging plate 44 at the'iower end of its downward movement, and the d0881 8 plate 45 bringing its wedging surface 52 into ensagement with the latch bolt abutment. The dog plates thus serve to hold the latch bolt in latching position and their wedge surfaces will take up any wear or lost motion between the door and the frame so that the latch bolt will hold the door firmly in closed position. a

In addition to the mainlatchbolt ii I provide safety latch bolt means. A lever 55 is fulerumed on the post .38 and has its inner leg I extended in position abovethe abutment 22 of the setting lever II. The outer end of the lever is deflected to form a latch plate 51. A spring 58 anchored on the post 38 engages an abutment 59 on the lever and tends to hold this lever with the latch plate 51 substantially in the plane of the door. The latch plate cooperates with a keeper lip It formed by deflecting downwardly.

the forward end .of the keeper upper wall 42. when the door is moved to closing position, the upper portion of the keeper plate encounters the keeper lip and the lever 55 is rocked until the latch plate clears the keeper lip so that the spring ll may swing the lever into latching position with the latching plate behind the keeper lip.

Figure 5 shows the latching plate just entering into engagement with the keeper lip, and Figure 4 shows the safety latching plate in latching position. If a door is not swung a sufllclent distance in closing direction for latching operation of the latch bolt 3!, the safety latch plate will hold the door against accidental swinging open until the door is properly closed. When the setting lever l5 is rotated 'by one of the door handles to release the dogging plates from the main latch bolt, the abutment 22 engages with the end 55 of the safety latch lever and the lever is rotated to unlatch the latch plate 51 from the keeper.

I also provide means operable preferably by key means from the outside of the vehicle for dogging the setting lever I 5 against operationby either the inside or the outside handle so that neither the outside handle nor the inside handle can effect unlatching of the door. A dogging arm BI is secured on a spindle 62- which at its outer end is provided with suitablekey operable means (not shown) for turning of the spindle. In the normal position of the dogging arm 6i, as shown by full lines on Figure l, the setting lever I5 is free for rotation. However, when the spindle 62 is turned and the arm 6| swung upwardly to the :dotted position shown, the dogging arm will be in the path of the abutment extension on the lever i 5 to prevent rotation thereof by operation of either door handle so that the main latch bolt holding or dogging members 44 and 45 cannot be moved for release of the latch bolt for unlatching of the door. Thus; the door may be locked from the outside against unlatching by either door handle.

For the inside handle mechanism a spring 64 engages in a notch in the lever to hold the lever in its normal position.

8|, both of the door handles will be locked against movement and neither the main latch bolt nor the safety latch bolt can be released, .and the door cannot be opened either from the outside .ir-from the inside by operation of the handl mechanism.

I have shown a practical and emcient embed ment of the features of my invention, but I d not desire to be limited to the exact constructior arrangement and operation shown and describet v as changes and modifications may be made without-departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim as follows:

1. Locking means for the door of an automobile comprising keeper structure adjacent to the door, a rockable main latch bolt .on said door cooperable with said keeper structure to latch the door in closed position, holding means on said door for holding said main latch bolt in latchingposition, a rockable safety latch bolt on the door cooperable with said keeper structure in advance of said main latch'bolt to latchthe door against opening movement, a releasing member on the door engageable with said holding means to first release the main latch bolt for comprising keeper structure adjacent to the door,

a rockable main latch bolt on said door cooperahle with said keeper structure to latch the door in closed position, holding means on said door for holding said main latch bolt in latching position, a rockable safetylatch bolt on the door eooperable with said keeper structure in advance of said main latch bolt to latch the door against opening movement, a releasing member on the door engageable with said holding means to first release the main latch bolt for unlatching movement and thereafter engageable also with said safety latch'bolt for movement thereof to unlatching position, an inside handle and an outside handle on the door adapted for independent movement to actuate said releasing member, and

rneans key operable from the outside of the door for dogging said releasing member against releasing movement.

- EDWARD D. DALL. 

